Monday, September 19, 2011

How To Hire A (Criminal) Lawyer

There are few experienced criminal defense lawyers who can't say they've "seen it all." But then this pops up:

An order from Southern District of Florida Magistrate William Turnoff, worth a pause in your day, tells the story of a criminal defense lawyer who went on a crime spree with a client's family:

On March 14, 2008, [Emmanuel]Roy appeared before the Honorable Ted. E. Bandstra and announced that he would be filing a temporary notice of appearance as counsel for Defendant. According to the billing records, Roy also met with Coulton , “co-counsel Peter U. Mayas,” AUSA Fine, and Agent “Cuddington,” and made telephone calls, for which he billed a total of 12 hours. The court minutes reflected that the hearing lasted 5 minutes.

Taking a step back, Emmanuel Roy had already been retained by the client's wife, at the rate of $600 per hour with a $150,000 retainer. This was his arrangement with the wife, to whom he said nothing about making fee arrangements with other family members.

Mrs. Sewell, Ms. Reid, and other family members pooled funds from their savings accounts, pension plans, and a credit union loan to pay the legal fees to Roy. (Tr. at 49-52). Mrs. Sewell provided Roy with cashier’s checks totaling $83,000.00. (Tr. at 53). The copies of the cashier’s checks showed payments to Roy & Associates as follows: $30,000.00 on March 17, 2008; $4,000.00 on March 24, 2008; $16,000.00 on April 14, 2008; $10,000.00 on April 16, 2008; $3,200.00 and $10,000.00 on May 12, 2008; and $13,000.00 on August 2, 2008. (Exh. L). Mrs. Sewell never received copies of IRS Form 8300 evidencing these payments, and Roy’s billing records were inconsistent with regard to the amounts documented in Defendant’s exhibits. (Tr. at 53); (Exh. L; P). Roy failed to advise them that he was also obtaining jewelry and other assets from Mrs. Coulton as payment toward his legal fees. (Tr. at 54). Even a cursory review of the billing records concerning the time billed, the services rendered, and the amounts paid, reveals that they are fraudulent.

Roy then flew to London, with his wife, met with the client's wife, and at breakfast had her hand over her wedding ring. This was before having her turn over her condo to him, valued at over $250,000.00.

It goes on. It gets worse. One of the worst 33 pages of lawyer misconduct I've seen.

Despite their ineligibility to practice before this Court, neither Roy nor Mayas ever informed Coulton, his wife, his family, AUSA Fine, or the Court, that he was not authorized to appear as counsel in this District. (Tr. at 12; 56); (ECF No. 169). On the contrary, Roy actually lied to Defendant’s family informing them that he was not only a former Assistant District Attorney in Florida, but that he had also worked with AUSA Fine.

Roy wasn't even admitted to practice in the Southern District. He lied about having been a prosecutor. He lied about "meeting" with the judge. He lied about so many things. He filed pleadings under someone elses electronic filing account number.

When a family member finally received a call back after sentencing: [Roy] told her that he had been invited to President Obama’s inauguration and that, since the “head of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons” would be there, he would discuss Mr. Coulton’s medical issues with him at that time.

Here's the cap on his and his co-counsel's career:

Given the willful, deliberate, and fraudulently contemptuous conduct committed by Roy and Mayas; given that their conduct appears to be driven solely by a desire to line their own pockets; given that they committed numerous ethical violations during the course of their representation of Coulton; and given the public policy issues at stake, extraordinarily severe sanctions are in order. Accordingly, the Court holds Roy and Mayas, and their respective law firms, in contempt of court and imposes the following sanctions: (1) that they disgorge all fees obtained as a result of their unauthorized practice with interest; (2) that they be publicly reprimanded; (3) that they be barred from practicing in this District; (4) that they be required to reimburse Coulton for all fees and costs incurred in order to obtain counsel; (5) that they be required to fully cooperate with Coulton in his efforts to collect any and all sums owed to him as a result of these proceedings; (6) that they be required to pay all fees and costs to do so; and (7) that they each be referred to the Bar for disciplinary proceedings.

This is one of the most offensive stories of lawyer misconduct I've seen. Going on a crime spree while taking advantage of the foreign family of a incarcerated client is despicable. The list of offenses here, the conspiracies that occurred - are an embarrassment.

But it also begs a question. How many other lawyers out there are benefitting from a client's lack of research? It's easy to determine whether a lawyer is admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction, so why didn't anyone look?

When I've written before about the fraud the permeates the internet, I often get the "shut up Brian, we're not stupid, we can look at Google."

But we don't. Clients, don't.

I think Google and the greater internet is the enemy of lawyers who want to lie, who want to bolster their credentials, and hope that unknowing potential clients don't know any better, or don't know what questions to ask. If the Coulton family had taken a few moments to research their lawyer, they may have discovered he's not even admitted to practice in the Southern District of Florida.

But in the world of criminal defense, there is desperation. There is the client and the client's family who will write checks to the first lawyer who tells them what they want to hear. Typing names on the internet takes too long, unless we're looking for the cheapest price.